finding brown's approval rating at 48% following the passage of the prop 30 tax hike. in october, his rating was 42%. early last year, it reached a low of 34%. as for the state budget, the ppic poll finds 94% of californians consider it a problem. of that number, 68% say it's a big problem. 26% say it's somewhat of a problem. coming up in four minutes, a report of lawmakers purchasing cars after having them fixed up with your tax dollars. >>> there's been a lot of tough talk from the white house today about the fiscal cliff. treasury secretary, tim geithner said the administration is quote, absolutely ready to let the economy go over that cliff, rather than drop the higher tax rates for top earners. president obama also told a group of ceos, he won't republicans inject the threat of a government default into the current negotiations. >> that is a bad strategy for america. it is a bad strategy for your businesses, and it is not a game that i will play. >> in spite of the rhetoric, president obama and house speaker john boehner did speak by phone today for the first time